


Mami and I: Beyond the Friendzone

by silangmalaya



Series: Mami and I [1]
Category: Original Work
Genre: Other
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-21
Updated: 2019-08-21
Packaged: 2020-09-23 04:24:04
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,355
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20334013
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/silangmalaya/pseuds/silangmalaya
Summary: Weekends in the province bear fruit to humble conversations.





	Mami and I: Beyond the Friendzone

**Author's Note:**

> For my Mami,

Saturdays are hectic in the province. As most families would enjoy the luxury of spending their weekends waking up late and lounging all day, ours would... Well, we would be awake just as the sun rises, up and ready for the grind of the day.  
  
One would think that the daily grind ends on the weekends, but for us, weekends mean the fun-filled-day of palengke, carwash, walis-walis, luto-luto, hugas-hugas, laba-laba, punas-punas, tupi-tupi; an endless list of chores that should all be checked off by Sunday evening. Not even a second to spare for yourself.

But it works.

This family works.  
  
The grind starts early this Saturday as we have guests over, who, one of which, is nearly a two-year-old baby. Oh. Things are hectic today.

  
  
The late morning sunlight warms the concrete of our home to an uncomfortable heat. I can feel the heat on my skin even under the shade at the back of the house where I stood by the sink. Tears of sweat were beginning to stream down every inch of my skin. Despite this, my rinsing of undergarments continue on.  
  
Dadi had just come back from the market and he's left the bags of different types of meat into a basket on the tiles behind me. He covered it with another basket of the same shape on top of the other to keep away the flies and other insects. He greets me quickly before flying off into the house to catch the start of the game.  
  
I chuckle at him as I wring the last few pieces of garment and toss them into a basin for the dryer. Suddenly the screen door screeches at its spring when it opens as Mami comes through it.  
  
She tells me to rinse the raw meat from the palengke when she passes by. She stands in front of the washing machine beside the sink to wait for the bell. I set the basin of undergarments aside and pull up the basket to the counter.  
  
Light patterns dance on the bright yellow walls as we converse about anything under the sun as I clean and store our food while she handles the laundry. Then we get to the topic of her and Dadi.  
  
I rinse out the piece of Galunggong in my hand under the running stream from the faucet and Mami pours fabric conditioner into the washing machine.  
  
“Mami,”

“Hm?”

With a light smile I say, “Buti tinanggap niyo si Dadi kahit ganon ‘yung pamilya niya.”

“Oo naman syempre.” She tells me.

I nod and the sound of running water fills in the silence.

“Bago pa naman maging kami, alam ko na ‘yun.” She explains.

“Hm?” I look at her. “Paano?”

She looks back at me and says, “Diba nga magkabarkada naman kami bago kami naging kami.”

“Ahhh... So parang ano... You‘ve already seen the worst of him.”

“Oo parang ganon.”

“Mmmm...” I nod accepting her answers. But something else plays in my mind:

  
_“It was an ordinary day, but the world stopped when I laid my eyes on her. Then I knew, she was the one.”_

Like how it happened in the movies...  
  
Coming back to the present, I ask curiously,

“so nung nagkakilala ba kayo naramdaman mo nang ‘siya na’?”  
  
“Mmmmmm...” She thinks for a while, opening the lid of the washing machine and scooping out damp clothes into a basket as she does.  
  
And I’m suddenly waiting for the _tea_.  
  
“Parang hindi naman,” she answers me nonchalantly.

But my face lights up because her answer has me intrigued. _This_ I wanted to know more of.

She crosses behind me, basket held up by her to arms and waist. She moves to the garage area to start hanging wet clothes on the rack and continues,  
  
“Kasi nga friends lang naman kami nung una. So nakwento na niya sakin lahat ‘yun bago pa maging kami.”  
  
I nod, taking in her answer, even resonating with it. “So kailan mo na naramdaman?”  
  
She hums in thought again, as we continue to do our chores. “Siguro nung... Magdadalawa or magtatatlong taon na kaming magkasama pagkatapos grumaduate.”  
  
“Aaaahh...” Oo nga naman, I thought. But... There must have been some sort of feeling of security, right?

“So by that time... Na two-ish years after college na kayong magjowa, wala ka nang nakitang ibang magiging boypren?”  
  
She hangs one of the damp shirts on the rack.

“Oo.”  
  
She says with certainty.  
  
“Siya na yung nakita mong pakakasalan mo?”  
  
“Yes,”  
  
“Start a family with?”  
  
“Yes,”  
  
“‘Yung makakasama mo habang buhay kahit pinupunasan niyo na yung jebs ng isa't isa dahil di na kayo nakakaabot sa banyo sa sobrang tanda niyo na?”  
  
“Ngayon pa nga lang nangyayari na yan eh.”  
  
We both laugh fondly. A warm feeling spreads across my chest as a loving smile rests on my lips. It's sweet to think that despite everything, Mami still sees their love this way.  
  
  
To keep the conversation going, I ask, “Pero diba may naging boypren ka dati?”  
  
“Huh?? Wala ah!”  
  
“Eh diba may manliligaw ka dati na—”  
  
“Ah manliligaw lang naman ‘yun. Di ko naman sinagot yun.”

  
I bend to my side a little to peak at her and make a face, “Eh bakit hindi mo sinagot 'yun?”  
  
“Eh kasi...” She trails off while reaching up to hang another shirt. “Hindi pa time eh.”  
  
“Ahhhh!!” I giggle, “Meganon!”

“Oo.” She shrugs. “Kasi ba naman highschool pa kami ‘nun, ang bata-bata pa namin ‘nun. Ano ba naman ang gagawin ko sa relationship ng highschool? Marami pa kong inaatupag na pag-aaral ‘nun.”

It gets a laugh out of me at how much that sounded like something I would say. I am surprised to know that my mother was that mature and responsible at such a young age, but at the same time, I am also not.  
  
“Ahhh ganern pala yern.” I say in between giggles. “So si Dadi lang 'yung da wan and onli.”  
  
“Oo.” It sounded soft, with fondness and certainty.  
  
The thought of it keeps a soft smile on my lips. But since I like teasing my mother, I say, “pero may mga nanligaw sayo?”  
  
“Ay! Oo syempre!” She exclaimes with pride, as I wheeze in laughter, “Napakarami! Pero fling-fling lang silang lahat—”  
  
The sound of my laugh bounces off the walls. Tears begin to fill my eyes as I clutched on the poor Galunggong in my hand.  
  
“HNNGGGRABE NEMENG NEpeke deme nemen meshede neng menlelegew ne nepeke hebe nemen pele ng behek neng neney ke telegeng nepeke gende nye meshede eh—”

We end up both tearing up in laughter as the sound fills our empty garage. The lightness in our conversation fills my chest with fondness. Weekends might be hectic, but it is only while doing our chores do we get to talk about anything and everything, usually about me or about her or about our wack family.

Once we've both caught our breaths we finally get back to work. The same bright smile remains on my features, processing everything we've talked about.

I chuckle as I place the last fish into the tupperware.

“So sayo ko pala nakuha yung pafling-fling lang.” I say.  
  
Mami only laughs.

I hear her stack the basket that she just finished with and stepped over the screen door to get inside the house, marking the end of our light conversation.  
  
I still snicker as it replays in my head. There aren't many things I have in common with my mother; it's the reason why we fight the most in the family.  
  
But I didn't realize that we would be the same in knowing only one way to fall in love. Not in the simplest attraction, not in the simplest interest, not in dates, not in the physical, but through a love that expects nothing more from the other; friendship.  
  
_... Kaya siguro lagi akong na-f-friendzone._  
  
I chuckle to myself at the thought.  
  
“Silang!” I hear my mother call over from inside the house. “‘Lika na dito kain na!”  
  
I stack the plastic containers of raw food for the week and head inside the house for lunch, where I would see the rest of my loving family.


End file.
